Are files in iTunes folders like cover art reorganized along with the media files when moved to Apple Music?

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Are files in iTunes folders like cover art reorganized along with the media files when moved to Apple Music?

When the upgrade to Apple Music, occurs, I understand that all music regardless of source and all playlists will be automatically transferred and reorganized locally. However, most of my locally stored music, which I is all play in iTunes, has related files such as artwork and ripping logs in the same folders as the media files. I am concerned that I will have to manually move all of those files when the media files and their folders are reorganized for Apple Music. Thanks for any info.

Posted on Oct 7, 2019 4:15 PM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

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Oct 8, 2019 9:04 AM in response to teskridge

I haven't yet had a chance to explore the new layout in depth. Currently all of my media in Catalina library is still on its original paths on an external drive but using a library on the Catalina partition. If I consolidated the media to a new folder (the default appears to be ~/Music/Music/Media) then only the media files would be copied in. Neither iTunes nor Music give you fine grained controls over where they decide to put things once they are in charge. In Windows I've written scripts for organizing my media just where I want it, which includes the ability to move any additional content when the last media file is moved out of a folder, and then clean up the empty folder, but I've not managed anything so ambitious on my Mac. At some point you just go with the flow.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

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Oct 7, 2019 4:34 PM in response to teskridge

Firstly are you planning to upgrade to Catalina? Nothing should happen unless you do. Apple Music won't pay any attention to subsidiary files that might be in the folders where your media is stored. If it wants to move things around those things are going to be left behind. Apple Music contains the same options as iTunes has for keeping the media folder organized and copying in files when adding to the library, so reorganizing would appear to be optional.

tt2

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Answer 3

turingtest2

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Oct 8, 2019 5:37 PM in response to teskridge

Yes, but if you change the media folder location and consolidate to that new path iTunes will only copy the files connected to the library. Anything else you might have, artwork in the folders, ripping logs, etc, will be ignored, likewise any personal folder layout.

tt2

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Answer 4

teskridge Author

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Oct 9, 2019 9:41 AM in response to turingtest2

I was thinking that if the path can be altered in iTunes, maybe it can changed in Apple Music to the iTunes path, in which case it might be transferred back to the folders with the other files still there.

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Answer 5

turingtest2

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Oct 9, 2019 10:25 AM in response to teskridge

I suspect we're probably talking at cross purposes. Neither iTunes nor the Music app care about artwork you've manually placed in album folders, your ripping logs, playlist files you might have made for other software, or anything else that isn't a compatible media file attached to the library. Where things live is up to you if you want to stay in charge, or you can cede control to the app and stop worrying about it. Apple Music lets you define where the media folder is. You can stick with the path that iTunes was using so nothing needs to change when you upgrade to Catalina.

tt2

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Answer 6

teskridge Author

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Oct 10, 2019 12:42 PM in response to turingtest2

After all that, my iMac is too old for Catalina. 🤦🏼‍♂️

https://www.apple.com/macos/how-to-upgrade/#hardware-requirements

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Answer 7

teskridge Author

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Oct 8, 2019 2:59 PM in response to turingtest2

FYI, it looks like iTunes allows modification of the location for files.

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Answer 8

teskridge Author

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Oct 8, 2019 8:54 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you. So would I be able to change where the media is stored by Apple Music back to the iTunes folders so they are in the same folder as the subsidiary files again?

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